Manager, Retail Portfolio Operations

Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group

Toronto, ON

Interested in joining one of Canada’s top performing asset managers? We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Manager for an existing vacancy in our Investment Resource Group. This industry-skilled knowledge and people leader reports to the Senior Manager, Retail Portfolio Operations. The Manager of Retail Portfolio Operations will work alongside other RPO Managers and lead a team of financial operations professionals - Specialists, Analysts and Senior Analysts - to support the operation of CC&L’s wealth management and private market affiliates. In this role, you will be responsible for leading, guiding, and providing technical and practical support to the team in executing specific tasks for one of the group’s core functions. Core RPO team functions for the 3 RPO Managers include: Retail Trading & CFI-affiliate support, Account Administration for Reconciliation & Reporting and lastly, Billing & Private Market Operations. In leading your team, you will be responsible for people leadership functions such as recruitment, training new hires and existing employees, goal setting, conducting performance reviews, and supporting employee development plans. You will also analyze processes and procedures to streamline and mitigate operational risk where incidents arise, and for general efficiency improvement. Our offices currently operate on a hybrid model with a combination of in-office and remote working days throughout the week.

What You Will Do

• Plan and oversee daily tasks performed by your team of Specialists, Analysts and Senior Analysts, being their go-to person for questions, helping with issues, and reviewing quality and quantity of work output; conduct 1:1 meetings and ongoing coaching sessions focused on skill gaps and employee development.
• Acting as the primary point of contact for the team’s supported Affiliates and partners, being a subject matter expert along with your team members to ensure questions are answered based on functional and cross-team/downstream considerations.
• Ensure that operational processes and technology platforms for your team are running smoothly and efficiently, raising/prioritizing tickets (Jiras) where needed to address issues and make improvements.
• Manage day-to-day operational challenges, including handling inquiries from Affiliate leadership, Wealth Advisors, Client Service teams, Compliance, and other related departments.
• Attend meetings and support projects and other initiatives related to your team, working closely with Information Services (IS) and other CC&LFG colleagues, Affiliate representatives, and Custodians to achieve common client and company objectives; create, execute, and communicate user acceptance testing plans.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to workflows, technology platforms, and data management.
• Collaborate with the IS teams on system updates, enhancements, and provide users with ongoing support for day-to-day usage.
• Support our high-performance culture by identifying and managing to KPIs, encouraging and determining possible Automation Factory options, and contribute to the staffing growth of our Gurugram, India office.
• Analyzing current processes and procedures and redesigning workflows to increase efficiencies while also ensuring that the necessary controls are in place to meet compliance guidelines and mitigate risks.
• Performing quality control using data integrity reports.
• Proactively identify inefficiencies in operational processes and systems, making recommendations to Senior Manager and CC&LFG partner teams (Automation Factory, IS, etc.) to implement changes to streamline workflows, reduce pain points, and enhance productivity.
• Developing, testing, and implementing new procedures to accommodate changing business demands.
• Working with senior managers on special projects and initiatives.
• Coordinate and manage servicing with custodial banks and other service providers, reporting trends to senior leaders for appropriate escalation/mitigation.
• Support the transition of our book-of-record system and overall Mid-Office, Back-Office (MOBO) transformation.

What You Bring

• Trade settlement experience at client level and possesses clear understanding of the end-to-end cycle from trade generation to settlement.
• Understanding of nested fund structures and the relationship between client level trading to fund level trading.
• Capital market or adjacent experience, with clear understanding of trading deadlines and market close dates.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Systems, Finance or related field; additional certifications in operations management and asset/wealth management are valued.
• 5-10 years of experience in operations, technology support, or a related field in wealth/asset management or financial services administration (front-, mid-, back-office).
• Strong understanding of financial systems and tools used in asset management.
• An in-depth understanding of investments and the associated tax implications related to Registered and non-Registered products (RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, etc.).
• Demonstrated leadership skills; proven team leader responsibilities is an asset.
• Proven ability to anticipate, understand, and respond to the needs of clients.
• Demonstrated ability to learn new systems quickly and use them effectively and efficiently.
• Experience with troubleshooting operational or technology-related issues, with a focus on quick and effective resolutions.
• Effective decision-making, critical thinking, and problem resolution skills; resourceful problem solver.
• Strong communication skills (speaking, listening and writing) with the ability to interact effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to work efficiently under pressure, dealing with changes and interruptions while maintaining strict deadlines.
• Completion of the Canadian Securities Course is an asset.

The starting salary for this position is $90,000-110,000. The starting salary provided reflects the base salary for this position as required by legislation. In addition, there is an annual performance bonus which contributes to the total compensation of this position. Further questions may be directed to the HR team during the interview process.

About Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group

At CC&L Financial Group, we understand the value of opportunity – for our clients and our team. Independent and employee-owned, we partner with investment professionals to grow successful asset management businesses, giving them the space to innovate and truly make an impact. With more than 40 years of history and offices across Canada and in the US, the UK and India, CC&L Financial Group and our multi-boutique family of affiliate firms collectively manage over $179 billion in client assets, providing a diverse range of traditional and alternative investment products and solutions to institutional, high-net-worth and retail clients.

For a closer look at how you can build your career with us, we invite you to explore cclgroup.com.

CC&L Financial Group is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or expression, disability, or age.

To apply for this position, please submit your resume and cover letter as one PDF.

Your application will be reviewed by a member of the hiring team - AI is not used in the screening, assessment or selection of applications at this time.

We thank all applicants in advance for their interest, but only those candidates shortlisted for interviews will be contacted. No telephone calls or recruitment agencies will be accepted.

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